


The Same but Different

by orphan_account



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-29 15:32:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6382087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Kevin and Carlos are tired and nervous for the start of the season. They start to hang out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So both of them raced for DAMS in FR 3.5 in different years, and both won a title racing for that team. That made me get an idea.

“Nice to see you in a seat again.” Kevin was happy to hear this coming from Carlos. When Kevin had left DAMS at the end of 2013 to move up to Formula One at the beginning of 2014, Carlos had gotten that seat. Both of them had been paired with the same teammate, both had done better than that teammate, both had won 

“I’m happy to be in a seat again too.” Kevin smiles back at Carlos. They were sitting in the reception area of the hotel their respective teams were staying at for the first race of the season. Their teams had the luck of being at the same one for this race. “I was starting to worry about myself. It all came together really fast. You know how that can be sometimes.” Kevin really had been worried about himself. His head hadn’t been in a good spot, he had a second chance to prove himself.

“Yes. You are a good racer. I hope you do well, but not as well as me.” Carlos laughs at his joke. Kevin can’t help but join in. It was mostly funny because of how heavily accented Carlos’s English still was. Before Kevin can respond to the joke, he spots Jolyon walking from the elevators, with one of the press officers.

“See you at the track?” Kevin gets up before extending one of his hands to shake Carlos’s. Carlos nods and smiles before pulling out his phone. Kevin was satisfied, things were going the way he wanted, he liked the team so far, liked his teammate and was happy to get the chance to actually race Carlos.

\----------

Kevin was thankful that the press day had not been too bad. He had had to answer a lot of “Are you happy to be back racing?” and “Are you satisfied with the team and/or car so far?” The answer was yes to both, but practice and then qualifying would really show how things would go. He was nervous for the race. Last year had been long without any racing at all. Thankfully Jolyon knew how he felt, but at least he had had some practice sessions.

He was lying on his bed, there was another one in the room, but Jolyon was going to spend the night in his dad’s room. Kevin wasn’t as lucky, seeing as his dad had a race super close to this one. He had gotten a text earlier though, which had been nice.

He was mindlessly flipping through the channels, not being able to settling on anything for more than a few minutes. Before he can change the channel again, there’s a knock. Hoping it’s not someone from the team, Kevin goes to answer. Peeping through the hole, he sees it’s Carlos in comfy clothes.

“Can I come in? I got the room number from Jolyon earlier. You alone?” Carlos gets all of this out before Kevin can say a word. “Yes to all of it, come in.” Kevin moves to let him in. Before Kevin can add anything else, Carlos has his shoes off and has settled himself on the bed Kevin had just vacated. “I do not want to deal with my father right now. He will not let up.” Carlos says this with a hint of sadness. Turning down the volume, Kevin sets the control on the table between the beds before getting on the bed beside Carlos. “Mine only set a text message, he’s still doing a few things for Corvette.” Kevin would always be proud of his dad, but it would be nice if he knew if Jan was coming to any races. He had come to a few in 2014, but things were not concrete right now.

“Families are hard, yes?” Carlos looks tired as he says this. “Do you want to watch a movie?” Carlos softly says this, as if he’s almost nervous as what’s Kevin’s answer is going to be. “Sure, you want to pick?” Kevin tosses him the remote. “I’m going to turn the lights off, if that’s fine.” Carlos just smiles at this. Kevin had hung out with Carlos a few times, but never alone like this.

Pulling the duvet off of Jolyon’s bed, Kevin tosses it over Carlos before getting under himself. Why not? It’s not like they had to do anything past this. Carlos scoots closer to Kevin, pushing their hips and shoulders together under the duvet. “I may fall asleep on you.” Carlos says this into Kevin’s ear as he selects a movie. “That’s fine.” Kevin doesn’t turn; instead he puts his arm around Carlos’s shoulders. He didn’t even realize he was doing it until Carlos leans into him even more. During the movie they don’t talk. Carlos ends up curled up against Kevin; he falls asleep just like he said he would.

Kevin turns the movie off, thankful he set his alarm earlier; he scoots down to face Carlos. Carlos face was already in his neck, his breathing even. Kevin puts his arm around the younger man’s back and realizes this is ok. He had done this with Jenson a few times after tough races, but it had never led to anything. Shifting a little, Kevin starts to get comfortable. Right as he’s about to drift off to sleep, Carlos puts a leg through both of his. Kevin smiles; no matter if this led to anything, it was nice to share a bed with someone. He had forgotten how warm it could get.

\------------

It takes Kevin a few moments to realize that he’s alone in the bed, wrapped up in two blankets. He’s halfway hard, remembering that he and Carlos had shared the bed last night. There’s enough light coming around the blinds for him to see a note on the table. “Text me when you get to the track. I was running late.” There’s a number and a large XO next to the scrawl that is Carlos’s signature. Kevin smiles as he gets up to start his day. The potential of this was good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos and Kevin talk about things. Kevin is satisfied and trying to not arise suspicion from his teammate.

“At the track, see you later?” Kevin quickly sends the text before setting his phone in his bag. Fridays were busier than Thursdays, Saturdays busier than Fridays and Sundays busier than Saturdays on race weekends. He had missed it and was relishing the fact that he didn’t have a lot of time to think about things. All he had to think about was getting the most out of his car and providing the best feedback he could.

Today would start off with getting things ready for practice, doing the two practices and then debriefing. Kevin was eager to see if the car had improved since testing. He knew that he and Jolyon had to manage their expectations, it’s not like they were going to get on the podium in the first few races, but he was hopeful that if they didn’t score points this round, that they’d be close.

\-----

Before he knew it, it was time for a quick lunch between practices. Grabbing his phone from his cool down room before going to the bigger conference room, he sees that he has two texts from Carlos. The first said, “Eating, Max won’t be in room tonight. We are lucky two nights in a row. 812 is the number, tell me when you’re done.” The second was a picture of Carlos leaning on a table with one of his hands in his hair, smiling.

Kevin’s glad for the messages. Quickly typing one out while walking to the conference room, “I’ll let you know when I’m leaving the track and send you an ETA.” Shoving his phone in his pocket before anyone can see whom he was talking to, Kevin grabs a plate and starts putting food on it.

He was very satisfied with his life indeed.

\-----

Kevin was lucky to grab a car back to the hotel with some of the other members of the team. Before getting in he had told Carlos he was about 15 minutes from the hotel and 30 from getting to Carlos’s room. He wanted to shower at the hotel before hanging out. He had had the chance to do that earlier at the track, but was too hyped up from practice and going over the information with his engineer to calm down enough.

His phone buzzes right as he’s getting out of the car and going into the hotel with the other personnel. “Good, be waiting for you.” Kevin tries not to walk too fast; he doesn’t want to answer any uncomfortable questions. “You’re going to 8?” Kevin’s engineer asks. “Yeah, thanks.” Kevin is tired, but it’s a satisfied tired.

The elevator dings and a lot of people in the elevator get off with him on his floor. The team had blocked rooms, so he’d have to be careful going up to the floor that Carlos was on. Sliding his key into his room, he goes about quickly getting his shower. He takes a page from the night before and pulls on comfy sweatpants and a Renault hoody. Grabbing his wallet, room key and phone, he’s happy to see that he’s right on with his estimation of arriving in Carlos’s room.

Jolyon comes in right as he’s about to leave. “See you later?” Jolyon asks, setting his bag on the bed Kevin and Carlos weren’t in last night. “Probably. I’m going to go hang out with Sainz.” Kevin feels a little sheepish, he hopes Jolyon won’t give him too much shit about it.

“Oh that’s cool. Remember we’re leaving at 9:30 tomorrow, we’ve got to be there earlier than today.” Jolyon is getting his own stuff for a shower. “Ok, I’ll see you.” Kevin quickly sticks his head out, gladly seeing that there’s no one in the hallway. He quickly walks to the stairs; he doesn’t want to get caught in the elevator with someone who would say something. It was like playing roulette, either they’d be nice like Jolyon or they’d give him the third degree.

Walking quickly, gets to the room and knocks lightly. It’s almost as if Carlos was standing there waiting for him. “Hey,” they both say at the same time. Which leads them both to smile. “Come in.” Carlos pulls him in and points to the second bed, “I’m in this one. Get comfortable.” Carlos walks into the bathroom and is making bathroom noises.

Kevin lays his wallet, phone and room key on the table near the window before kicking off his shoes. Flopping onto the bed, he hopes that he hasn’t gotten in over his head. Carlos comes out of the bathroom. “Last night I was tired. I did not want to wake you when I was leaving.” Carlos gets on the bed next to Kevin, lying on his side. Kevin turns to look at Carlos.

“Do you want to talk about anything?” Kevin asks. “You looked good in practice.” Kevin doesn’t know what else to say to get the conversation going. Carlos smiles, “So did you.” He reaches out and touches Kevin’s face. “I had such a crush on you, I wanted to race against you again last year but I didn’t get to.” Carlos’s voice gets thicker with each word. “It is hard to keep friends in this. And I idolized you; you were so nice to me when I did those three races that first year. You were so nice to everyone.” His hand is still on Kevin’s face. “This year we will race and it will be good.” Kevin reaches out to wrap his arm around the younger man’s waist and pull them closer.

“I appreciate you telling me about your feelings.” Kevin puts his face into the stubble on Carlos’s neck. He wanted to do what Carlos did last night. Carlos hums into Kevin’s forehead, “You smell like hotel shampoo.” Carlos laughs softly, moving his face a little so his lines up with Kevin’s. “Can I kiss you?”

Kevin doesn’t answer, just moves closer. Carlos’s lips are chapped, but Kevin doesn’t care. The kiss is chaste but sweet; Kevin can’t help but push his hips into Carlos. Carlos breaks the kiss first. Kevin clears his throat, before speaking. “We don’t have to do anything more. We can do what we did last night?” Kevin pushes a thumb up Carlos’s jaw, feeling the thinness, feeling the stubble.

“That is fine, stay where you are.” Carlos gets up after saying this, he does what Kevin did last night and pulls the duvet off the bed that was obviously Max’s. Carlos drapes it over Kevin and then gets under himself. Grabbing the remote, Carlos puts on some show about the animals in Australia. Kevin scoots closer to Carlos, putting his head onto Carlos’s shoulder. He feels like its Carlos’s turn to let Kevin fall asleep first. He doesn’t know where things are going in his personal life, but as long as he’s racing this weekend and the rest of the season, it does not matter.

\-----

Kevin wakes up in the dark. Carlos is wrapped up around him; the lights and the TV are off. He shifts a little to look at the bedside clock, it’s just past midnight and he knows he should get up and go back to his own room. He doesn’t want any unnecessary questions from Jolyon. Plus it’s going to be the last practice and qualifying. Carlos stirs against Kevin’s neck. “You need to go?” Carlos’s voice is even huskier than usual. Kevin feels a callused hand move from his chest to his stomach. “Mmm, yeah I should. I don’t want to, but I should.” Kevin hates that he’s saying this. “Is ok, go Kevin.”

Carlos moves his hand from Kevin’s stomach to Kevin’s ass, softly gripping it. Kevin feels Carlos’s lips on his neck. “Go,” Carlos says again. This finally prompts Kevin to get up. His eyes are adjusted enough for him to find his shoes and personal effects. He hates this, but knows it’s for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously a figment of my imagination.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the weekend. Kevin is angsty about qualifying, the race, trying to see Carlos again. The universe smiles upon them and makes that happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, obviously none of this happened.

Creeping down the hall to his and Jolyon’s room, Kevin is glad he’s lucky again to not see anyone. Everyone in the team tries to at least be in his or her rooms at a decent time on Friday and Saturday nights. Being Friday night, Kevin should already be asleep, but spending more time with Carlos had tempted him to bend the unspoken rules. He does his best to open the door to the room as quietly as he can. Jolyon has fallen asleep with the TV on; he must have tried to wait up for Kevin. When they had shared a room before, Jolyon hadn’t done that, which was nice that he cared about Kevin enough to be worried about him getting enough sleep.

Kevin is tired, but not too tired to make sure his alarm is set and to double check the pile of clothes for tomorrow. In the glow of the TV, he tries to find the remote before locating it in Jolyon’s hand. Somehow the other man still had it in his grasp. Kevin shuts it off and then gets into bed. He wishes Carlos was with him, but knows they both need to sleep alone, with the distraction of the other person.

\-----

The Saturday before race days were almost harder and busier than the race days themselves. So much could go wrong; the start of a race depended on where you qualified. You could spend your whole race trying to make up positions. Kevin had been there multiple times; it was hard to deal with. He had seen Carlos earlier, when he walked by the other man’s garage. He’d waved, but didn’t want to stop and say anything, since he was with Esteban. Every fiber of his being was telling him to stop and talk, but he knew better than to do it. Instead he just sent a text, saying he’d talk to Carlos later. Kevin was pleased with the car; he had had a decent running in testing, more than Jolyon had. The problem would be qualifying, he wasn’t happy with the new system, but with racing, it was put up or shut up. Getting the green light to go out, Kevin went to try his best.

\-----

Going through debriefing, Kevin was trying not to be distracted. Carlos hadn’t texted him back at all during the day. Carlos had gotten a better position in qualifying, Kevin got where he expected, in midfield. As long as he finished tomorrow, and as close to the points as he could, he would be satisfied. He wished he was closer to the front, but the beginning of the season was about managing expectations. He wasn’t expecting to be getting a podium on his first race of the season. He had been helped two years ago, by the flags and the race ending when it did; if it had gone on longer, Jensen would have passed him.

Finally, towards the closing statements of the engineers, a text comes in. “Want to share a car? To the hotel? I can leave in 15 minutes. Meet me near gate 5.” Kevin quickly texts the thumbs up and grinning emojis back to Carlos. Thankfully he’s out in almost 5 minutes and has enough time to get to their meeting spot.

He sees Carlos twirling around, with a backpack on his back. “Hey,” Kevin says softly. Carlos instantly stops and starts to go in to hug him, before stopping himself. “We’re riding with Tabatha, my press officer, I told her to wait.” Carlos looks down and smiles, a little shy. Kevin reaches out to wrap an arm around the other man’s shoulder, this was normal, and no one would say anything about this. “Come on, let’s go before she leaves us.” Kevin squeezes the shoulder that’s both bony and muscular at the same time.

The ride back to the hotel is easy; Kevin and Carlos bump knees when they get in, before Kevin moves his leg to where their knees are touching. Tabatha is nice and Kevin is thankful she doesn’t question him riding with Carlos. He had fielded a few questions from his own team, but they had only asked him to text that he had gotten to the hotel fine.

“Jolyon’s getting back in 45 minutes, he was asked to stay later. Want to come in?” Kevin quickly and quietly asks this before they get into the elevator. Thankfully the lobby wasn’t too busy. Tabatha was in front of the other elevator, talking to a team member who had been waiting for her. There were no other team members or drivers in sight. Kevin was thankful for this.

“Yes.” Kevin can see that this is all Carlos is able to say right now. Thankfully their elevator arrives after the other one, they had waved the others on, choosing to wait for the second one. Kevin pushes the button for his floor, before turning to finally hug Carlos; Kevin wraps his arms around Carlos’s neck, putting his face right next to the other man’s, they were cheek to cheek. He feels hands on waist, then a sigh into his hair.

“Perfect.” Carlos says this into his ear, it tickles a bit and Kevin tries not to laugh. They hold the embrace until the elevator dings for the floor. Both of them pull away quickly, they don’t want to be surprised and have anyone see them. They’re quiet going to and into Kevin’s room. Once the door is closed and locked though, Kevin barely has time to drop his bag before Carlos’s arms are around his waist again from behind this time.

Kevin struggles on where to put his hands, his arms, since he’s still close to the door, since he just locked it. Instead he just leans back into the embrace. “You smell like race track,” Carlos says into the left side of his neck. “Mmm, so do you.” Kevin does his best to turn, while still keeping the arms around him. Once he’s turned, he leans in to Carlos; he’s wanted a kiss all day.

Carlos is all too eager to meet him and they hit hard, knocking teeth through lips. Kevin laughs against the other man’s lips, before continuing the kiss. He puts his left hand onto the back of Carlos’s neck, right at the bottom of that dark, thick hair. His right is Carlos’s ribcage. The kiss is long, hard and deep. Carlos gently bites Kevin’s bottom lip, which is something Kevin has always liked to have done to him. Then there’s Carlos’s lips against his neck, against his jaw, before going back to kissing. They continue like that for a few minutes, before Carlos pulls away. Kevin can see that Carlos’s lips are even pinker than they usually are, he can’t help but moan quietly.

“I did not text, because Marco was up my ass. I thought about you, when I was not in the car.” Carlos pulls back, dragging his hands across Kevin’s hips as he does so. “Come lay with me, we do not have to speak, if you do not want.” It’s more of a statement than a question and Kevin smiles as he finally kicks off his shoes, he’s glad he asked Carlos to come in for the time they do have.

Carlos lies against the pillows, like the first night, and Kevin gladly lies down, halfway on top of him. They lay quietly for a few minutes before Kevin decides to speak. “You did well today. Your driving and car are both good.” Carlos’s arm is draped around Kevin’s shoulders, hand in the back of Kevin’s hair. “I am happy, but Max will be the big challenge tomorrow.” Carlos sighs. Kevin knows that Carlos is under stress, the Red Bull Junior Program could be as ruthless as any other junior program; if you didn’t deliver, you were out. You had a narrow window to do well.

Before Kevin can respond, his pone buzzes in his pocket. Shifting to pull it out, he sees that it’s Jolyon telling him that he will soon arrive. He makes an annoyed noise before speaking, “Jolyon’ll be here sooner than expected. Come on, let’s get up.” Kevin gets up; he doesn’t want to start kissing Carlos again, not on the bed. If they started again, Kevin knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing all the dirty things he’d thought about all day.

Carlos groans before getting up himself. He’d kept his shoes on; all he needed was his bag. “One more?” He says as soon as his bag on back on his back. Kevin smiles, before obliging. He puts his right hand on Carlos’s neck, pushing his thumb along the other man’s jaw. Carlos breaks the kiss, but puts his forehead against Kevin’s. “I do not want to leave. But tomorrow is important for both of us. Check the hallway before I leave, yes?” Kevin takes a moment before pulling away, he didn’t want Carlos to leave either. He had been spoiled, having spent hours both nights before this one lying with him.

He unlocks the door, pulls it quietly open and quickly checks both sides of the hall. Turning back to Carlos, he gives the all clear. “See you before the race? During the picture?” Kevin almost whispers this; he was still worried about someone opening a door in the hall. Carlos pats Kevin’s hip, almost on his ass and just nods. Then the younger man is gone.

Kevin closes the door, not bothering to lock it, since Jolyon was coming soon. He goes back to the bed and flops face down into the pillow Carlos very recently vacated. It still smelled like cinnamon and the racetrack. It must be the shampoo Carlos brings, Kevin thought, that made him smell like cinnamon. Just as he’s about to fall asleep in his clothes, Kevin hears a key in the door. Turning over, he sees Jolyon looking tired. “You look beat,” Kevin says. “So do you mate,” Jolyon laughs, dropping his bag next to Kevin’s. “I want a shower, then I want to lay down and zone out for a bit. You need the bathroom?” Ever the polite Brit, Kevin chuckles as he shakes his head.

“I’ll find something to watch while you’re in there. I’m at the same place.” Kevin moves to get the remote as Jolyon goes into the bathroom. Luckily, the channel that Jolyon had fallen asleep on last night had a movie on they had both talked about at the factory last week. Kevin lets his mind drift back to Carlos, the way Carlos’s body had felt under his hands. It was strange and wonderful at the same time.

When Jolyon is out of the bathroom, they make some small talk, but nothing too deep. Before long, they decide to call it a night. Kevin hoped that he would be able to keep the thoughts of Carlos at bay during the race tomorrow.

\-----

While Jolyon’s brushing his teeth, Kevin wanted to send a quick message to Carlos. “If I cannot say it later, good luck today.” Adding the blowing kiss emoji to the end of the message, Kevin hits send. “Ready?” Jolyon comes out of the bathroom. Kevin nods, getting up and grabbing his bag.

He was nervous, he was hoping this race went better than the one last year. He needs to manage the car and finish, if he finished above a few people, even better. Getting out of the car, he sees some of the other drivers arriving. They had to take a “class picture” before doing the parade lap. Walking to the Renault garage, he falls into step with Button. “Good luck today Kevin, stand next to me during the song?” Kevin is too nervous to do anything other than nod.

Getting into his suit, he walks out with Jolyon to the picture. Before he gets there, he sees Carlos. The smile on Carlos’s face is genuine and bright. Kevin is thankful for that. “Good luck today.” Carlos pats Kevin on the lower back; the touch calms him a bit. “Thank you,” Kevin doesn’t want to say anything else, and give anything away.

Moving to his seat, he tires to calm himself. Ready or not, it was lights out, time to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously this didn't happen. I also feel like this is an odd pairing? I didn't really know what to tag it as.


End file.
